Skip to main content
PMC home page
Canadian Family Physician logoLink to Canadian Family Physician
. 2001 Jul;47:1404–1410.

Physicians certified in family medicine. What are they doing 8 to 10 years later?

C A Woodward 1, M Cohen 1, B Ferrier 1, J Brown 1
PMCID: PMC2018528  PMID: 11494928

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine field of medicine and location of a cohort of physicians certified in family medicine between 1989 and 1991 and residing in Ontario in 1993 and to gather information on the scope of practice of family physicians in the cohort in 1999. DESIGN: Responses to a mailed questionnaire sent in 1999 were compared with responses to a 1993 survey of this group. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: All family physicians in Ontario in 1993 who received certification in 1989, 1990, or 1991 after completing a family medicine residency. Seven of 557 respondents to the 1993 survey were ineligible; 293 physicians (53%) responded to the 1999 survey. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Field, location, and scope of practice. RESULTS: About 91% of the cohort were still practising family medicine, although 11% of these had restricted their practices to certain areas within family medicine. Physicians migrated from Ontario (6%) in nearly equal numbers to other provinces and other countries, predominantly the United States. More family physicians offered counseling, shared antenatal care, and newborn care in 1999 than in 1993. Those with restricted family practices provided fewer types of services and were less likely to provide antenatal or intrapartum care or to provide in-hospital services. CONCLUSION: Receiving certification in family medicine does not guarantee that physicians will remain in family practice 8 to 10 years later. Loss from general family medicine to restricted practices within family medicine and specialization was greater than loss from migration.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (164.1 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Adams O. Canada one country among many grappling with MD-oversupply issue. CMAJ. 1989 Jan 1;140(1):68–69. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Dauphinee W. D. Changes in career plans during medical training and practice: it's time to look ahead and act. CMAJ. 1996 Apr 1;154(7):1049–1052. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Dauphinee W. D. Medical workforce policy making in Canada: are we creating more problems for the future? Clin Invest Med. 1996 Aug;19(4):286–291. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Evans R. G. New bottles, same old wine: right and wrong on physician supply. CMAJ. 1998 Mar 24;158(6):757–759. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Lomas J., Stoddart G. L., Barer M. L. Supply projections as planning: a critical review of forecasting net physician requirements in Canada. Soc Sci Med. 1985;20(4):411–424. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(85)90020-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Roos N. P., Bradley J. E., Fransoo R., Shanahan M. How many physicians does Canada need to care for our aging population? CMAJ. 1998 May 19;158(10):1275–1284. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Ryten E., Thurber A. D., Buske L. The Class of 1989 and physician supply in Canada. CMAJ. 1998 Mar 24;158(6):723–728. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Sibbald B. Is fee-for-service on the way out for Ontario FPs? CMAJ. 1999 Oct 5;161(7):861–861. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Stoddart G. L., Barer M. L. Toward integrated medical resource policies for Canada: 2. Promoting change--general themes. CMAJ. 1992 Mar 1;146(5):697–700. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Stoddart G. L., Barer M. L. Will increasing medical school enrollment solve Canada's physician supply problems? CMAJ. 1999 Oct 19;161(8):983–984. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Thurber A. D., Busing N. Decreasing supply of family physicians and general practitioners. Serious implications for the future. Can Fam Physician. 1999 Sep;45:2084–2089. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Whitcomb M. Family medicine in Canada. Can Fam Physician. 1999 Sep;45:2015-6, 2025-7. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Woods D. The alleged MD surplus: a need for superb data, national policy. Can Med Assoc J. 1983 Dec 1;129(11):1171–1171. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Canadian Family Physician are provided here courtesy of College of Family Physicians of Canada

RESOURCES